Importance of the Molecular Orientation of an Iridium(III)-Heteroleptic

May 29, 2018 - A CH3CN solution containing 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium .... Data of the Three Iridium(III) Complexes in 20 μM CH3CN/H2O (4:1, v/v) Solut...
0 downloads 0 Views 2MB Size
Subscriber access provided by Kaohsiung Medical University

Article

Importance of the molecular orientation of an Ir(III)heteroleptic photosensitizer immobilized on TiO nanoparticles 2

Atsushi Kobayashi, Shuhei Watanabe, Masaki Yoshida, and Masako Kato ACS Appl. Energy Mater., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.8b00538 • Publication Date (Web): 29 May 2018 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on June 5, 2018

Just Accepted “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication. They are posted online prior to technical editing, formatting for publication and author proofing. The American Chemical Society provides “Just Accepted” as a service to the research community to expedite the dissemination of scientific material as soon as possible after acceptance. “Just Accepted” manuscripts appear in full in PDF format accompanied by an HTML abstract. “Just Accepted” manuscripts have been fully peer reviewed, but should not be considered the official version of record. They are citable by the Digital Object Identifier (DOI®). “Just Accepted” is an optional service offered to authors. Therefore, the “Just Accepted” Web site may not include all articles that will be published in the journal. After a manuscript is technically edited and formatted, it will be removed from the “Just Accepted” Web site and published as an ASAP article. Note that technical editing may introduce minor changes to the manuscript text and/or graphics which could affect content, and all legal disclaimers and ethical guidelines that apply to the journal pertain. ACS cannot be held responsible for errors or consequences arising from the use of information contained in these “Just Accepted” manuscripts.

is published by the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036 Published by American Chemical Society. Copyright © American Chemical Society. However, no copyright claim is made to original U.S. Government works, or works produced by employees of any Commonwealth realm Crown government in the course of their duties.

Page 1 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Importance of the Molecular Orientation of an Ir(III)-heteroleptic Photosensitizer Immobilized on TiO2 Nanoparticles Atsushi Kobayashi,* Shuhei Watanabe, Masaki Yoshida, Masako Kato* Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, North-10 West-8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan

KEYWORDS: Photosensitizer, Artificial photosynthesis, Ir(III) complexes, Immobilization, Molecular orientation

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

1

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 2 of 44

ABSTRACT: To elucidate the effect of the molecular orientation of a photosensitizing (PS) dye molecule on photo-induced interfacial electron transfer to a semiconductor substrate, we have synthesized two new Ir(III) heteroleptic complexes each comprising two phosphonic acid groups: [Ir(ppy)2(CPbpy)]+ and [Ir(CPppy)2(bpy)]+ (1B and 1P, respectively; Hppy = 2phenylpyridine, bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, CPbpy = 4,4′-bis(methylphosphonic acid)-2,2′-bipyridine, CPppy = 4-(methylphosphonic acid)-2-phenylpyridine). Both Ir(III) complexes exhibit similar UV-vis absorption spectra and quasi-reversible Ir(IV)/Ir(III) redox behavior at a potential of 1.67 V vs NHE. On the other hand, the triplet metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (3MLCT) phosphorescence energy of 1B was ~0.12 eV higher than that of 1P. This difference was attributed to the electron-donating methyl phosphonate groups attached to the bpy ligand that destabilize the 3MLCT excited state in which the photo-excited electron is localized in the bpy moiety. Both Ir(III) PS dyes were immobilized onto the surface of the Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles (1B@Pt-TiO2 and 1P@Pt-TiO2). Immobilization was comparable, suggesting that the effect of the positions of the methyl phosphonate groups on the immobilization behavior was negligible. On the other hand, the photocatalytic H2 evolution activity of 1B@Pt-TiO2 was about six-fold higher than that of 1P@Pt-TiO2, indicating the importance of the methyl phosphonate anchoring group position in regulating not only the redox potentials but also the orientation of the molecular photosensitizer on the semiconductor substrate.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

2

Page 3 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Introduction Over the past decades, the solar water splitting reaction has drawn considerable attention as one of the most promising methods to provide a renewable and clean energy resource, H2, without the formation of environmental pollutants.1-4 Following the discovery of the “Honda-Fujishima effect,”5 many semiconductor materials have been developed as photocatalysts for the water splitting reaction.6-10 In addition, the combination of semiconductor substrates and molecular photosensitizing (PS) dyes has provided many promising photoelectrochemical (PEC) cells for solar hydrogen production.11-17 Since PS molecules immobilized on the surface of semiconductor electrodes play key roles on the photoinduced charge separation process, many PS molecules have been developed to date.18-21 Among them, heteroleptic Ir(III) complexes have drawn much attention because of their unique electronic structure in the photoexcited state.22-40 Following the pioneering work on the heteroleptic Ir(III) complex [Ir(ppy)2(bpy)]+ (1, Scheme 1, Hppy = 2phenylpyridine, bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) by Bernhard et al.,23 extensive studies have been devoted towards clarifying the role of the two different ligands as well as the effect of the various pendant functional groups attached to both ligands. These studies clearly indicate that the electronic structure of these heteroleptic [Ir(ppy)2(bpy)]+-type complexes favors photo-induced charge separation. Thus, the photo-excited electron and the remaining hole are spatially separated on the π* orbital of the bpy ligand and the Ir 5d orbital conjugated with the π orbital of the ppy ligand, respectively.22 This feature of the cyclometalated Ir(III) heteroleptic PS dyes is not observed in widely employed homoleptic PS dyes such as [Ru(bpy)3]2+. Thus, taking advantage of this anisotropic feature, several photocatalysts for CO2 reduction,41-44 H2 production,45-49 and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC)50-55 have been developed via the immobilization of Ir(III) PS molecules by attachment to the bpy ligand. Some of these

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

3

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 4 of 44

photocatalysts have exhibited superior performance in photo-induced charge separation processes. However, the effect of the molecular orientation of the Ir(III) PS on the photocatalytic activity has been scarcely reported to date. This is because most of the Ir(III) PS molecules are commonly immobilized onto the semiconductor substrate via the introduction of several anchoring groups in the bpy ligand.45-55 One of the exceptions is a study of the immobilization of an [Ir(ppy)2(bpy)]-type photosensitizing dye onto a NiO cathode by Collomb et al.56 We have recently focused on the importance of the molecular orientation of the PS molecule on the semiconductor substrate. In this work, we report on the syntheses, PEC properties, and immobilization behavior of two phosphonate-functionalized Ir(III) heteroleptic photosensitizers, [Ir(ppy)2(CPbpy)]+ and [Ir(CPppy)2(bpy)]+ (1B and 1P, respectively; Scheme 1; CPbpy = 4,4′bis(methylphosphonic acid)-2,2′-bipyridine, CPppy = 4-(methylphosphonic acid)-2phenylpyridine) towards Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles (Pt-TiO2). We demonstrate that the introduction of methyl phosphonic acid groups to the [Ir(ppy)2(bpy)]+ moiety affects the redox potential in the photo-excited state so that 1B is more favorable for application to the photocatalytic H2 evolution reaction than 1P. Further, the nanoparticle photocatalyst 1B@PtTiO2 exhibited remarkably higher H2 evolution activity than 1P@Pt-TiO2.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

4

Page 5 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Scheme 1. Molecular structures of complexes [Ir(ppy)2(bpy)]+ (1), [Ir(CPppy)2(bpy)]+ (1P), and [Ir(ppy)2(CPbpy)]+ (1B).

Experimental Procedures Materials and Syntheses Caution! Although we did not come across any difficulties, most of the chemicals used in this study are potentially harmful and should be used in small quantities and handled with care in a fume hood. All commercially available starting materials were used as received without further purification. The TiO2 nanoparticles (SSP-25, ~9 nm in diameter) were purchased from Sakai Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. Pt-TiO2 (2 wt%) was prepared using a previously reported photodeposition method.57 The starting Ir(III) complexes bearing two diethyl phosphonate groups {[Ir(ppy-PE)2(bpy)]PF6 and [Ir(ppy)2(bpy-dPE)]PF6; Hppy-PE = 4-(diethylphosphonomethyl)-2-

phenylpyridine, bpy-dPE = 4,4′-bis(diethylphosphonomethyl)-2,2′-bipyridine)}58 and the nonsubstituted Ir(III) complex [Ir(ppy)2(bpy)]PF659 were prepared according to methods reported in the literature.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

5

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 6 of 44

Synthesis of 1B [Ir(ppy)2(bpy-dPE)]PF6 (184.5 mg, 0.17 mmol) was dissolved in 6 mL CH3CN/CH2Cl2 mixture (1:1 v/v) to which bromotrimethylsilane (0.3 mL, 2.27 mmol) was subsequently added. The mixture was refluxed for 2 d under N2 atmosphere. After cooling to room temperature, 75 mL cooled deionized water was slowly added to the reaction mixture to form a yellow-orange precipitate. The afforded precipitate was collected by filtration, washed with a small amount of deionized water and CHCl3, and subsequently dried in vacuo for one night to afford the crude product as a yellow powder. Recrystallization from an aqueous ammonia/acetone mixture afforded pure 1B as a yellow crystalline powder. Yield: 130 mg (0.15 mmol, 88 %). 1H NMR (270 MHz, DMSO-d6, δ ppm): 8.80 (s, 1H), 8.23 (d, 1H), 7.87 (m, 2H), 7.65 (d, 1H), 7.56 (d, 1H), 7.45 (d, 1H), 7.15 (t, 1H), 7.00 (t, 1H), 6.88 (t, 1H), 6.17 (d, 1H), 3.10 (d, 2H). Anal. Calcd. (%) for C34H34IrN5O6P2⋅3H2O: C, 44.64; H, 4.19; N, 7.66. Found: C, 44.70; H, 3.70; N, 7.05. Synthesis of 1P [Ir(ppy-PE)2(bpy)]PF6 (184.5 mg, 0.17 mmol) was dissolved in 6 mL CH3CN/CH2Cl2 mixture (1:1 v/v) to which bromotrimethylsilane (0.3 mL, 2.27 mmol) was subsequently added. The mixture was refluxed for 2 d under N2 atmosphere. After cooling to room temperature, 75 mL cooled water was slowly added to the reaction mixture to form a yellow-orange precipitate. The afforded precipitate was collected by filtration, washed with a small amount of deionized water and CHCl3, and subsequently dried in vacuo for one night to afford 1P as a yellow powder. Yield: 143 mg (0.17 mmol, 99%). 1H NMR (D2O, NaOD, 298 K): 8.48 (d, 1H), 8.10 (d, 1H), 8.05 (t, 2H), 7.79 (t, 2H), 7.65 (d, 1H), 7.42 (t, 1H), 7.15 (d, 1H), 6.93 (t, 1H), 6.30 (s, 1H), 2.61

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

6

Page 7 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

(d, 2H). Anal. Calcd. (%) for C34H31IrN4O7P2⋅3H2O: C, 44.59; H, 4.07; N, 6.12. Found: C, 44.41; H, 3.63; N, 6.48. Preparation of the Nanoparticle Photocatalysts (1B@Pt-TiO2 and 1P@Pt-TiO2) Pt-TiO2 nanoparticle powder (120 mg) was dispersed in basic water (20 mL) by adding a 1 M NaOH aqueous solution (0.1 mL). Next, 1B or 1P (27 mg, 32 µmol) was added to the Pt-TiO2dispersed solution and stirred continuously for 3 d in the dark. The afforded Ir(III)photosensitizer-immobilized Pt-TiO2 nanoparticles (1B@Pt-TiO2 or 1P@Pt-TiO2, respectively) were collected by ultracentrifugation (100,000 rpm; 30 min) and the supernatant solution was removed. After washing twice with ~6 mL H2O/CH3CN solvent (4:1 v/v), the product was dried in vacuo at 298 K for 1 d. The amount of Ir(III) photosensitizer immobilized on the Pt-TiO2 nanoparticle surface was estimated by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy and UV-vis absorption analyses of the supernatant solution (see “Calculation of the amount of immobilized Ir(III) complexes on the Pt-TiO2 nanoparticles” section in ESI). Measurements Elemental analysis was performed using a MICRO CORDER JM 10 analyzer at the Analysis Center, Hokkaido University. 1H NMR spectra were recorded on a JEOL EX-270 NMR spectrometer at room temperature. Energy dispersive XRF spectra were acquired on a JEOL JSX-3100RII spectrometer using a Rh target. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis was conducted using an OTSUKA ELSZ-1000SCI analyzer. IR spectra were recorded on a JASCO FT-IR 4100 spectrophotometer using KBr pellets; alternatively, the spectrometer was equipped with a Smart-Orbit (ZnSe) attenuated total reflection accessory. UV-vis absorption and luminescence spectra were recorded on a Shimadzu UV-2400PC spectrophotometer and JASCO

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

7

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 8 of 44

FP-8600 spectrofluorometer, respectively. Quartz cells with a 1-cm optical path length were used for both spectroscopic analyses. Prior to the luminescence measurements, the sample solutions were degassed by N2 bubbling for 20 min. Emission quantum yields (Φem) were measured using a Hamamatsu C9920-02 absolute photoluminescence quantum yield measurement system equipped with an integrating sphere apparatus and a 150-W continuous-wave xenon light source. Emission lifetime measurements were conducted using a Hamamatsu Photonics C4334 system equipped with a streak camera as the photodetector and nitrogen laser as the excitation light source (λex = 337 nm). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was recorded using a HOKUTO DENKO HZ3000 electrochemical measurement system equipped with Pt wire and Ag/AgCl electrodes as the counter and reference electrodes, respectively. A glassy carbon electrode or an Ir(III) complexmodified indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode was used as the working electrode. The ITO electrode was prepared according to a slightly modified literature method60 as follows: a bare ITO electrode was cleaned by heating in basic hydrogen peroxide solution for 30 min at 80 °C and then washed with water. Next, the pre-cleaned ITO electrode was immersed in 0.1 mM 1B or 1P aqueous solution for 1 d at room temperature. Subsequently, the electrode was washed with MeOH and dried under reduced pressure. A CH3CN solution containing 0.1 M tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF6) as supporting electrolyte was deaerated by N2 bubbling for 30 min and subsequently used in the CV experiments. Photocatalytic H2 Evolution Reactions For the photochemical H2 evolution reactions, each sample was prepared using a hand-made Schlenk flask equipped quartz cell (volume = 257 mL). Typical sample preparation was as follows: Ir(II)-photosensitizer-immobilized Pt-TiO2 nanoparticles and L-ascorbic acid (H2A) were added to the quartz cell as the photocatalyst and sacrificial electron donor (SED),

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

8

Page 9 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

respectively. The total sample volume was adjusted to 10 mL by adding a CH3CN/water mixture (1:1 v/v). The standard concentrations of the Ir(III) complex and SED used in this study were 40 µM and 0.2 M H2A, respectively. Each sample flask was doubly sealed using rubber septa and degassed by N2 bubbling for 3 h. Prior to irradiation, the gas (0.3 mL) was collected from the headspace using a gas-tight syringe (Hamilton 1001LTN) and analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) to confirm N2 purging. Subsequently, the samples were irradiated using a 300-W xenon lamp (MAX-303, ASAHI Spectra) in a water bath (293 K) combined with a visible-light-passed mirror module (385 nm 2 h) was observed for 1P@Pt-TiO2. This was attributed to the unfavorable orientation of 1P for interfacial electron injection to the TiO2; that is, the electron should be localized on the bpy ligand that faces the outer-edge of the 1P@Pt-TiO2 nanoparticle.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

22

Page 23 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Scheme 2. Schematic of the plausible electron transfer mechanism of Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles 1B@Pt-TiO2 and 1P@Pt-TiO2 in the presence of L-ascorbic acid (H2A) as sacrificial electron donor. The Ir(III)/Ir(II) reduction potentials of 1B and 1P are presumed to be the near-identical to those of their diethyl phosphonate analogues, [Ir(ppy)2(bpy-dPE)]+ and [Ir(ppy-PE)2(bpy)]+, respectively.58 The redox potential of H2A and the position of the CB minimum of TiO2 were inferred from the literature.69,70

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

23

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 24 of 44

Conclusion We have newly synthesized two phosphonic-acid-functionalized Ir(III) complexes, [Ir(CPppy)2(bpy)]+ and [Ir(ppy)2(CPbpy)]+ (1P and 1B, respectively). Characterization by UVvis absorption and emission spectroscopy as well as electrochemical measurements allowed us to elucidate the importance of the molecular orientation of the heteroleptic Ir(III) PS in the interfacial electron transfer process from the immobilized PS to the semiconductor substrate. The introduction of two methyl phosphonic acid groups to the ppy or bpy ligand had negligible effect on the Ir(IV)/Ir(III) redox potential in the ground state. Conversely, the 3MLCT emission wavelength and reactivity with electron-donating emission quenchers strongly depended on the positions of these functional groups. Thus, 3MLCT emission of 1B was observed at a shorter wavelength (by ~34 nm) than that of 1P, while the electron-transfer quenching rate of 1B was higher than the reactivity of 1P in the presence of sacrificial electron-donating H2A and TEA. Two H2 evolution photocatalysts, 1P@Pt-TiO2 and 1B@Pt-TiO2 were successfully prepared by immobilizing these Ir(III) photosensitizers to the surface of Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles. The H2 evolution photocatalytic activity of 1B@Pt-TiO2 was remarkably higher than that of 1P@Pt-TiO2. This was attributed to the effective electron transfer quenching from both the photoexcited 1B* and one-electron-reduced 1B− to the CB of the TiO2 nanoparticle. These results clearly indicate the importance of the positions of the anchoring groups to regulate the molecular orientation of the molecular photosensitizer on the surface of the semiconductor substrate.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

24

Page 25 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

ASSOCIATED CONTENT Supporting Information. The following files are available free of charge. X-Ray crystallographic data of 1P (CIF) UV-Vis absorption spectra of the supernatant solutions to estimate the adsorbed amount of Ir(III) photosensitizers on Pt-TiO2, IR spectra, particle size distribution, emission decay curves, and emission quenching by TiO2. (PDF) This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org. AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author *E-mail: [email protected] (A.K.); [email protected] (M.K.) Author Contributions The manuscript was written through contributions of all the authors. All authors have given their approval to the final version of the manuscript. Funding Sources This study was supported by the Shimadzu Science Foundation, the Shorai Science and Technology Foundation, the Murata Science Foundation, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)(26410063), Artificial Photosynthesis (area No. 2406, No.15H00858), and Soft Crystals (area No. 2903, No. JP17H06367) from MEXT, Japan. Notes The authors declare no competing financial interest.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

25

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 26 of 44

ACKNOWLEDGMENT This study was supported by the Shimadzu Science Foundation, the Shorai Science and Technology Foundation, the Murata Science Foundation, Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)(26410063), Artificial Photosynthesis (area No. 2406, No.15H00858), and Soft Crystals (area No. 2903, No. JP17H06367) from MEXT, Japan. ABBREVIATIONS PS, Photosensitizer; PEC cell, photoelectrochemical cell; Hppy, 2-phenylpyridine; bpy, 2,2′bipyridine;

CPbpy,

4,4′-bis(methylphosphonic

acid)-2,2′-bipyridine;

CPppy,

4-

(methylphosphonic acid)-2-phenylpyridine; Pt-TiO2, Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles; Hppy-PE,

4-(diethylphosphonomethyl)-2-phenylpyridine;

bpy-dPE,

4,4′-

bis(diethylphosphonomethyl)-2,2′-bipyridine); XRF, X-ray fluorescence spectra; CV, Cyclic voltammetry; ITO, indium tin oxide; DLS, dynamic light scattering; DFT, density functional theory; LLCT, ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer ; MLCT, metal-to-ligand charge-transfer; SED, sacrificial electron donor, TEA, triethylamine, H2A, L-ascorbic acid; CB, conduction band.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

26

Page 27 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

REFERENCES (1) Meyer, T. J. Chemical Approaches to Artificial Photosynthesis. Acc. Chem. Res. 1989, 22, 163–170. (2) Wasielewski, M. R. Photoinduced Electron Transfer in Supramolecular Systems for Artificial Photosynthesis. Chem. Rev. 1992, 92, 435–461. (3) Kudo, A.; Miseki, Y. Heterogeneous Photocatalyst Materials for Water Splitting. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2009, 38, 253–278. (4) Walter, M. G.; Warren, E. L.; McKone, J. R.; Boettcher, S. W.; Mi, Q.; Santori, E. A.; Lewis, N. S. Solar Water Splitting Cells. Chem. Rev. 2010, 110, 6446–6473. (5) Fujishima, A.; Honda, K. Electrochemical Photolysis of Water at a Semiconductor Electrode. Nature 1972, 238, 37–38. (6) Wang, X.; Maeda, K.; Thomas, A.; Takanabe, K.; Xin, G.; Carlsson, J. M.; Domen, K.; Antonietti, M. A Metal-free Polymeric Photocatalyst for Hydrogen Production from Water under Visible Light. Nat. Mater. 2009, 8, 76–80. (7) Chen, X.; Shen, X.; Guo, L.; Mao, S. S. Semiconductor-Based Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation. Chem. Rev. 2010, 110, 6503–6570. (8) Nocera, D. G. The Artificial Leaf. Acc. Chem. Res. 2012, 45, 767–776. (9) Kang, D.; Kim, T. W.; Kubota, S. R.; Cardiel, A. C.; Cha, H. G.; Choi, K.-S. Electrochemical Synthesis of Photoelectrodes and Catalysts for Use in Solar Water Splitting. Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 12839–12887.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

27

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

(10)

Page 28 of 44

Wang, Q.; Hisatomi, T.; Jia, Q.; Tokudome, H.; Zhong, M.; Wang, C.; Pan, Z.; Takata,

T.; Nakabayashi, M.; Shibata, N.; Li, Y.; Sharp, I. D.; Kudo, A.; Yamada, T.; Domen, K. Scalable Water Splitting on Particulate Photocatalyst Sheets with a Solar-to-Hydrogen Energy Conversion Efficiency Exceeding 1%. Nat. Mater. 2016, 15, 611–615. (11)

Abruña, H. D. Coordination Chemistry in Two Dimensions: Chemically Modified

Electrodes. Coord. Chem. Rev. 1988, 86, 135–189. (12)

Imahori, H.; Fukuzumi, S. Porphyrin- and Fullerene-Based Molecular Photovoltaic

Devices. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2004, 14, 525–536. (13)

Ardo, S.; Meyer, G. J. Photodriven Heterogeneous Charge Transfer with Transition-

Metal Compounds Anchored to TiO2 Semiconductor Surfaces. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2009, 38, 115–164. (14)

Youngblood, W. J.; Lee, S.-H. A.; Kobayashi, Y.; Hernandez-Pagan, E. A.; Hoertz, P. G.;

Moore, T. A.; Moore, A. L.; Gust, D.; Mallouk, T. E. Photoassisted Overall Water Splitting in a Visible Light-Absorbing Dye-Sensitized Photoelectrochemical Cell. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 926–927. (15)

Gao, Y.; Ding, X.; Liu, J.; Wang, L.; Lu, Z.; Li, L.; Sun, L. Visible Light Driven Water

Splitting in a Molecular Device with Unprecedentedly High Photocurrent Density. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2013, 135, 4219–4222. (16)

Ashford, D. L.; Gish, M. K.; Vannucci, A. K.; Brennaman, M. K.; Templeton, J. L.;

Papanikolas, J. M.; Meyer, T. J. Molecular Chromophore−Catalyst Assemblies for Solar Fuel Applications. Chem. Rev. 2015, 115, 13006–13049.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

28

Page 29 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

(17)

Hammarström, L. Accumulative Charge Separation for Solar Fuels Production: Coupling

Light-Induced Single Electron Transfer to Multielectron Catalysis. Acc. Chem. Res. 2015, 48, 840–850. (18)

Esswein, A. J.; Nocera, D. G. Hydrogen Production by Molecular Photocatalysis. Chem.

Rev. 2007, 107, 4022–4047. (19)

Hagfeldt, A.; Boschloo, G.; Sun, L.; Kloo, L.; Pettersson, H. Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Chem. Rev. 2010, 110, 6595–6663. (20)

Berardi, S.; Drouet, S.; Francàs, L.; Gimbert-Suriñach, C.; Guttentag, M.; Richmond, C.;

Stoll, T.; Llobet, A. Molecular Artificial Photosynthesis. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2014, 43, 7501– 7519. (21)

Yuan, Y.-J.; Yu, Z.-T.; Chen, D.-Q.; Zou, Z.-G. Metal-Complex Chromophores for Solar

Hydrogen Generation. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2017, 46, 603–631. (22)

Mills, I. N.; Porras, J. A.; Bernhard, S. Judicious Design of Cationic, Cyclometalated

Ir(III) Complexes for Photochemical Energy Conversion and Optoelectronics. Acc. Chem. Res. 2018, 51, 352–364. (23)

Goldsmith, J. I.; Hudson, W. R.; Lowry, M. S.; Anderson, T. H.; Bernhard, S. Discovery

and High-Throughput Screening of Heteroleptic Iridium Complexes for Photoinduced Hydrogen Production. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 7502–7510.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

29

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

(24)

Page 30 of 44

Lowry, M. S.; Goldsmith, J. I.; Slinker, J. D.; Rohl, R.; Pascal, R. A. Jr.; Malliaras, G. G.;

Bernhard, S. Single-Layer Electroluminescent Devices and Photoinduced Hydrogen Production from an Ionic Iridium(III) Complex. Chem. Mater. 2005, 17, 5712–5719. (25)

Tinker, L. L.; McDaniel, N. D.; Curtin, P. N.; Smith, C. K.; Ireland, M. J.; Bernhard, S.

Visible Light Induced Catalytic Water Reduction Without an Electron Relay. Chem. Eur. J. 2007, 13, 8726–8732. (26)

Cline, E. D.; Adamson, E. E.; Bernhard, S. Homogeneous Catalytic System for

Photoinduced Hydrogen Production Utilizing Iridium and Rhodium Complexes. Inorg. Chem. 2008, 47, 10378–10388. (27)

Tinker, L. L.; Bernhard, S. Photon-Driven Catalytic Proton Reduction with a Robust

Homoleptic Iridium(III) 6-Phenyl-2,20-bipyridine Complex ([Ir(C^N^N)2]+). Inorg. Chem. 2009, 48, 10507–10511. (28)

Metz, S.; Bernhard, S. Robust Photocatalytic Water Reduction with Cyclometalated

Ir(III) 4-vinyl-2,20-bipyridine Complexes. Chem. Commun. 2010, 46, 75517–7553. (29)

DiSalle, B. F.; Bernhard, S. Orchestrated Photocatalytic Water Reduction Using Surface-

Adsorbing Iridium Photosensitizers. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 11819–11821. (30)

Gärtner, F.; Boddien, A.; Barsch, E.; Fumino, K.; Losse, S.; Junge, H.; Hollmann, D.;

Brückner, A.; Ludwig, R.; Beller, M. Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation from Water with Iron Carbonyl Phosphine Complexes: Improved Water Reduction Catalysts and Mechanistic Insights. Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 6425–6436.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

30

Page 31 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

(31)

Gärtner, F.; Cozzula, D.; Losse, S.; Boddien, A.; Anilkumar, G.; Junge, H.; Schulz, T.;

Marquet, N.; Spannenberg, A.; Gladiali, S.; Beller, M. Synthesis, Characterisation and Application of Iridium(III) Photosensitisers for Catalytic Water Reduction. Chem. Eur. J. 2011, 17, 6998–7006. (32)

Takizawa, S.; Pérez-Bolívar, C.; Anzenbacher, P. Jr.; Murata, S. Cationic Iridium

Complexes Coordinated with Coumarin Dyes – Sensitizers for Visible-Light-Driven Hydrogen Generation. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2012, 3975–3979. (33)

Yu, Z.-T.; Yuan, Y.-J.; Cai, J.-G.; Zou, Z.-G. Charge-Neutral Amidinate-Containing

Iridium Complexes Capable of Efficient Photocatalytic Water Reduction. Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 1303–1310. (34)

Chirdon, D. N.; Transue, W. J.; Kagalwala, H. N.; Kaur, A.; Maurer, A. B.; Pintauer, T.;

Bernhard, S. [Ir(N^N^N)(C^N)L]+: A New Family of Luminophores Combining Tunability and Enhanced Photostability. Inorg. Chem. 2014, 53, 1487–1499. (35)

Paul, A.; Das, N.; Halpin, Y.; Vos, J. G.; Pryce, M. T. Carboxy Derivatised Ir(III)

Complexes: Synthesis, Electrochemistry, Photophysical Properties and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation. Dalton Trans. 2015, 44, 10423–10430. (36)

Mills, I. N.; Kagalwala, H. N.; Bernhard, S. Cyano-decorated Ligands: A Powerful

Alternative to Fluorination for Tuning the Photochemical Properties of Cyclometalated Ir(III) Complexes. Dalton Trans. 2016, 45, 10411–10419. (37)

Tschierlei, S.; Neubauer, A.; Rockstroh, N.; Karnahl, M.; Schwarzbach, P.; Junge, H.;

Bellerd, M.; Lochbrunner, S. Ultrafast Excited State Dynamics of Iridium(III) Complexes

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

31

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 32 of 44

and Their Changes upon Immobilisation onto Titanium Dioxide Layers. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2016, 18, 10682–10687. (38)

Fischer, S.; Bokareva, O. S.; Barsch, E.; Bokarev, S. I.; Kìhn, O.; Ludwig, R.

Mechanistic Study of Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation with Simple Iron Carbonyls as Water Reduction Catalysts. ChemCatChem 2016, 8, 404–411. (39)

Takizawa, S.; Ikuta, N.; Zeng, F.; Komaru, S.; Sebata, S.; Murata, S. Impact of

Substituents on Excited-State and Photosensitizing Properties in Cationic Iridium(III) Complexes with Ligands of Coumarin 6. Inorg. Chem. 2016, 55, 8723–8735. (40)

Torres, J.; Carrión, M. C.; Leal, J.; Jalón, F. A.; Cuevas, J. V.; Rodríguez, A. M.;

Castañeda, G.; Manzano, B. R. Cationic Bis(cyclometalated) Ir(III) Complexes with Pyridine−Carbene Ligands. Photophysical Properties and Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production from Water. Inorg. Chem. 2018, 57, 970–984. (41)

Yuan, J.-Y.; Yu, Z.-T.; Chen, X.-Y.; Zhang, J.-Y.; Zou, Z.-G. Visible-Light-Driven H2

Generation from Water and CO2 Conversion by Using a Zwitterionic Cyclometalated Iridium (III) Complex. Chem. -Eur. J. 2011, 17, 12891–12895. (42)

Kuramochi, Y.; Ishitani, O, Iridium(III) 1‑Phenylisoquinoline Complexes as a

Photosensitizer for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction: A Mixed System with a Re(I) Catalyst and a Supramolecular Photocatalyst. Inorg. Chem. 2016, 55, 5702–5709. (43)

Genoni, A.; Chirdon, D. N.; Boniolo, M.; Sartorel, A.; Bernhard, S.; Bonchio, M. Tuning

Iridium Photocatalysts and Light Irradiation for Enhanced CO2 Reduction. ACS Catal. 2017, 7, 154–160.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

32

Page 33 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

(44)

Cheong, H.-Y.; Kim, S.-Y.; Cho, Y.-J.; Cho, D. W.; Kim, C. H.; Son, H.-J.; Pac, C.;

Kang, S. O. Photosensitization Behavior of Ir(III) Complexes in Selective Reduction of CO2 by Re(I)-Complex-Anchored TiO2 Hybrid Catalyst. Inorg. Chem. 2017, 56, 12042–12053. (45)

Yuan, Y.-J.; Yu, Z.-T.; Chen, X.-Y.; Zhang, J.-Y.; Zou, Z.-G. Visible-Light-Driven H2

Generation from Water and CO2 Conversion by Using a Zwitterionic Cyclometalated Iridium (III) Complex. Chem. -Eur. J. 2011, 17, 12891–12895. (46)

Yuan, Y.-J; Zhang, J.-Y.; Yu, Z.-T.; Feng, J.-Y.; Luo, W.-J.; Ye, J.-H.; Zou, Z.-G. Impact

of Ligand Modification on Hydrogen Photogeneration and Light-Harvesting Applications Using Cyclometalated Iridium Complexes. Inorg. Chem. 2012, 51, 4123–4133. (47)

Yuan, Y.-J.; Yu, Z.-T.; Liu, X.-J.; Cai, J.-G.; Guan, Z.-J.; Zou, Z.-G. Hydrogen

Photogeneration Promoted by Efficient Electron Transfer from Iridium Sensitizers to Colloidal MoS2 Catalysts. Sci. Rep. 2014, 4, 4045. (48)

Wang, W.; Yu, T.; Zeng, Y.; Chen, J.; Yang, G.; Li, Y. Enhanced Photocatalytic

Hydrogen Production from an MCM-41-Immobilized Photosensitizer– [Fe–Fe] Hydrogenase Mimic Dyad. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 2014, 13, 1590–1597. (49)

Schçnweiz, S.; Heiland, M.; Anjass, M.; Jacob, T.; Rau, S.; Streb, C. Experimental and

Theoretical Investigation of the Light-Driven Hydrogen Evolution by Polyoxometalate– Photosensitizer Dyads. Chem. -Eur. J. 2017, 23, 15370–15376. (50)

Mayo, E. I.; Kilså, K.; Tirrell, T.; Djurovich, P. I.; Tamayo, A.; Thompson, M. E.; Lewis,

N. S.; Gray, H. B. Cyclometalated Iridium(III)-Sensitized Titanium Dioxide Solar Cells. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 2006, 5, 871–873.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

33

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

(51)

Page 34 of 44

Ning, Z.; Zhang, Q.; Wu, W.; Tian, H. Novel Iridium Complex with Carboxyl Pyridyl

Ligand for Dye-sensitized Solar Cells: High Fluorescence Intensity, High Electron Injection Efficiency? J. Organomet. Chem. 2009, 694, 2705–2711. (52)

Dragonetti, C.; Valore, A.; Colombo, A.; Righetto, S.; Trifiletti, V. Simple Novel

Cyclometallated Iridium Complexes for Potential Application in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells. Inorg. Chim. Acta 2012, 388, 163–167. (53)

Krutha, A.; Peglow, S.; Rockstroh, N.; Junge, H.; Brüser, V.; Weltmann, K.-D.

Enhancement of Photocatalytic Activity of Dye Sensitised Anatase Layers by Application of a Plasma-Polymerized Allylamine Encapsulation. J. Photochem. Photobiol., A 2014, 290, 31–37. (54)

Sinopoli, A.; Wood, C. J.; Gibson, E. A.; Elliott, P. I. P. Hybrid Cyclometalated Iridium

Coumarin Complex as a Sensitizer of Both n- and p-Type DSSCs. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2016, 2887–2890. (55)

Sinopoli, A.; Wood, C. J.; Gibson, E. A.; Elliott, P. I. P. New Cyclometalated Iridium(III)

Dye Chromophore Complexes for n-Type Dye-Sensitised Solar Cells. Inorg. Chim. Acta 2017, 457, 81–89. (56)

Gennari, M.; Légalité, F.; Zhang, L.; Pellegrin, Y.; Blart, E.; Fortage, J.; Brown, A. M.;

Deronzier, A.; Collomb,M.-N.; Boujtita, M.; Jacquemin, D.; Hammarström, L.; Odobel, F. Long-Lived Charge Separated State in NiO-Based p‑Type Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells with Simple Cyclometalated Iridium Complexes. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 2254–2258.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

34

Page 35 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

(57)

Park, H.; Choi, W.; Hoffmann, M. R. Effects of the Preparation Method of the Ternary

CdS/TiO2/Pt Hybrid Photocatalysts on Visible Light-Induced Hydrogen Production. J. Mater. Chem. 2008, 18, 2379–2385. (58)

Kobayashi, A.; Watanabe, S.; Ebina, M.; Yoshida, M.; Kato, M. Effects of Phosphonate

Ester Groups Attached on a Heteroleptic Ir(III) Photosensitizer. J. Photochem. Photobiol., A 2017, 347, 9–16. (59)

Schwartz, K. R.; Chitta, R.; Bohnsack, J. N.; Ceckanowicz, D. J.; Miró, P.; Cramer, C. J.;

Mann, K. R. Effect of Axially Projected Oligothiophene Pendants and Nitro-functionalized Diimine Ligands on the Lowest Excited State in Cationic Ir(III) bis-Cyclometalates. Inorg. Chem. 2012, 51, 5082–5094. (60)

Kiyota, J.; Yokoyama, J.; Yoshida, M.; Masaoka, S.; Sakai, K. Electrocatalytic O2

Evolution from Water at an ITO Electrode Modified with [Ru(terpy){4,4′-(CH2PO3H2)2-2,2′bpy}(OH2)]2+: Evidence for a Unimolecular Pathway. Chem. Lett. 2010, 39, 1146–1148. (61)

Yanai, T.; Tew, D. P.; Handy, N. C. A New Hybrid Exchange–Correlation Functional

using the Coulomb-Attenuating Method (CAM-B3LYP). Chem. Phys. Lett. 2004, 393, 51–57. (62)

Hehre, W. J.; Ditchfield, R.; Pople, J. A. Self—Consistent Molecular Orbital Methods.

XII. Further Extensions of Gaussian—Type Basis Sets for Use in Molecular Orbital Studies of Organic Molecules. J. Chem. Phys. 1972, 56, 2257−2261. (63)

Andrae, D.; Haussermann, U.; Dolg, M.; Stoll, H.; Preuss, H. Energy-Adjusted ab initio

Pseudopotentials for the Second and Third Row Transition Elements. Theor. Chem. Acta 1990, 77, 123−141.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

35

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

(64)

Page 36 of 44

Gaussian 09, Revision E.01, Frisch, M. J.; Trucks, G. W.; Schlegel, H. B.; Scuseria, G.

E.; Robb, M. A.; Cheeseman, J. R.; Scalmani, G.; Barone, V.; Mennucci, B.; Petersson, G. A.; Nakatsuji, H.; Caricato, M.; Li, X.; Hratchian, H. P.; Izmaylov, A. F.; Bloino, J.; Zheng, G.; Sonnenberg, J. L.; Hada, M.; Ehara, M.; Toyota, K.; Fukuda, R.; Hasegawa, J.; Ishida, M.; Nakajima, T.; Honda, Y.; Kitao, O.; Nakai, H.; Vreven, T.; Montgomery, J. A., Jr.; Peralta, J. E.; Ogliaro, F.; Bearpark, M.; Heyd, J. J.; Brothers, E.; Kudin, K. N.; Staroverov, V. N.; Kobayashi, R.; Normand, J.; Raghavachari, K.; Rendell, A.; Burant, J. C.; Iyengar, S. S.; Tomasi, J.; Cossi, M.; Rega, N.; Millam, J. M.; Klene, M.; Knox, J. E.; Cross, J. B.; Bakken, V.; Adamo, C.; Jaramillo, J.; Gomperts, R.; Stratmann, R. E.; Yazyev, O.; Austin, A. J.; Cammi, R.; Pomelli, C.; Ochterski, J. W.; Martin, R. L.; Morokuma, K.; Zakrzewski, V. G.; Voth, G. A.; Salvador, P.; Dannenberg, J. J.; Dapprich, S.; Daniels, A. D.; Farkas, Ö.; Foresman, J. B.; Ortiz, J. V.; Cioslowski, J.; Fox, D. J. Gaussian, Inc., Wallingford CT, 2009. (65)

Lee, C.; Yang, W.; Parr, R. G. Development of the Colle-Salvetti Correlation-Energy

Formula into a Functional of the Electron Density. Phys. Rev. B 1988, 37, 785–789. (66)

Gauss view: GaussView 5.0: Dennington, R.; Keith, T.; Millam, J. Semichem Inc.,

Shawnee Mission, KS, 2009. (67)

Neubauer, A.; Grell, G.; Friedrich, A.; Bokarev, S. I.; Schwarzbach, P.; Gärtner, F.;

Surkus, A.-E.; Junge, H.; Beller, M.; Kühn, O.; Lochbrunner, S. Electron- and EnergyTransfer Processes in a Photocatalytic System Based on an Ir(III)-Photosensitizer and an Iron Catalyst, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 1355-1360. (68)

White, H. S.; Becker, W. G.; Bard, A. J. Photochemistry of the Tris(2,2′-

bipyridine)ruthenium(II)-peroxydisulfate System in Aqueous and Mixed Acetonitrile-Water

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

36

Page 37 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Solutions. Evidence for a Long-lived Photoexcited Ion Pair. J. Phys. Chem. 1984, 88, 1840– 1846. (69)

Natali, M. Elucidating the Key Role of pH on Light-Driven Hydrogen Evolution by a

Molecular Cobalt Catalyst. ACS Catal. 2017, 7, 1330–1339. (70)

Rothenberger, G.; Fitzmaurice, D.; Grätzel, M. Spectroscopy of Conduction Band

Electrons in Transparent Metal Oxide Semiconductor Films: Optical Determination of the Fiatband Potential of Colloidal Titanium Dioxide Films. J. Phys. Chem. 1992, 96, 5983−598.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

37

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Page 38 of 44

Table of Contents Synopsis.

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

38

Page 39 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Figure 1. UV-visible absorption (broken lines) and luminescence spectra (solid lines; λex = 400 nm) of 1 (black), 1P (red), and 1B (blue) in 20 µM CH3CN/H2O (4:1 v/v) solution at 298 K. Inset: magnified view of the absorption spectra (450 to 540 nm) 79x74mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Figure 2. Stern–Volmer plots of 40-µM solutions of (black) 1, (blue) 1B, (red) 1P in the presence of various concentrations of (a) triethylamine (TEA; pH = 10) and (b) L-ascorbic acid (H2A; pH = 4.5) at room temperature in a CH3CN/H2O mixture (4:1 v/v) as solvent. 88x49mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 40 of 44

Page 41 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Figure 3. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectra of Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles: Pt-TiO2 (black), 1B@Pt-TiO2 (blue), and 1P@Pt-TiO2 (red). The peak marked by an asterisk originates from the Rh Lα radiation of the X-ray source. 88x93mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Figure 4. Photocatalytic H2 evolution reaction driven by the Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles 1P@PtTiO2 (red closed circles) and 1B@Pt-TiO2 (blue closed circles; 40 µM of the Ir(III) complex) in 0.2 M H2A solution (pH = 4.5, CH3CN:H2O = 1:1 v/v) under Ar atmosphere. A 300-W Xenon lamp with a longpass filter (λ >420 nm) was used as the irradiation source. Open symbols (black, red, and blue circles) indicate the results afforded by the 40-µM Ir(III) complex solution as homogeneous photosensitizer (1, 1P, and 1B, respectively) and Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles as the H2 evolution catalyst. 84x84mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 42 of 44

Page 43 of 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

ACS Applied Energy Materials

Scheme 1. Molecular structures of complexes [Ir(ppy)2(bpy)]+ (1), [Ir(CPppy)2(bpy)]+ (1P), and [Ir(ppy)2(CPbpy)]+ (1B). 49x15mm (600 x 600 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

ACS Applied Energy Materials 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60

Scheme 2. Schematic of the plausible energy and electron transfer mechanism of Pt-cocatalyst-loaded TiO2 nanoparticles 1B@Pt-TiO2 and 1P@Pt-TiO2 in the presence of L-ascorbic acid (H2A) as sacrificial electron donor. The Ir(III)/Ir(II) reduction potentials of 1B and 1P are presumed to be the near-identical to those of their diethyl phosphonate analogues, [Ir(ppy)2(bpy-dPE)]+ and [Ir(ppy-PE)2(bpy)]+, respectively.58 The redox potential of H2A and the position of the CB minimum of TiO2 were inferred from the literature.69,70 62x24mm (300 x 300 DPI)

ACS Paragon Plus Environment

Page 44 of 44